


Ball Pit Blues

by phenomenology



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 06:15:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3799957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phenomenology/pseuds/phenomenology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanan and Hera take their kids to an amusement center. Ezra is terrified of the ball pit after he gets stuck in there. (human!AU; space family)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ball Pit Blues

**Author's Note:**

  * For [candiedrhododendrons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/candiedrhododendrons/gifts).



“Why do we come here every weekend?” Kanan asked, pushing his plate away with a funny look on his face. “The pizza alone is reason enough to stay away. It’s literally just cardboard.”

Hera laughed as she too pushed away a half eaten slice of cheesy cardboard. “We come here because the kids enjoy it, love.” She tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear before running her fingers through her green highlighted hair. Fixing her luminescent green eyes on Kanan, who sat across from her, she added, “It also gets them out of the house to work off all that energy. They’re so young and I don’t know where all that energy comes from. But here is better than cooped up at home.”

Kanan sighed but didn’t protest any further. The large, open room of the amusement center was painted bright, cheerful colors that matched the tabletops, chairs, floors, jungle gym and everything else that was inside the building. However, the entire place reeked of feet, and the food wasn’t anything to write home about. But it gave their kids plenty of room to run around and add to the loud chatter that was the consistent background noise here. 

Kanan wasn’t particularly fond of this place, but he agreed with Hera that the kids loved it here. And Kanan liked seeing his kids happy. 

Looking back at his pizza, Kanan poked his plastic fork into it and groaned in disgust at the weird texture. With a look of hatred, Kanan complained, “I swear I don’t even think it’s real cheese, Hera!”

Hera reached across the table and flicked his chin with a delicate finger, smirking. “Not everyone is a professional chef and gets to use freshly made cheese when they make pizza, Kanan,” she teased.

Kanan continued to poke at the strange, fake cheese as he chuckled along with Hera. “Then maybe I’ll just have to make some _real_ pizza for dinner when we get home. Seriously though, this stuff can’t be real. I don’t think that the kids should even be eating this—“ 

Kanan was abruptly cut off by a loud, distressed cry coming from the ball pit nearby. He and Hera looked at each other in unison, eyes wide and concerned.

“Ezra,” Hera confirmed, leaping from her chair and rushing off towards the jungle gym. Kanan tossed aside the fork, completely forgetting about the fake cheese and followed Hera quickly. The ball pit was built into the jungle gym, on the edge of the large contraption but was still part of it. Kanan knew that the staff wasn’t too fond of parents going in there, especially when, _god forbid_ , they still had their shoes on. 

But Kanan and Hera didn’t care; that was their baby in there. And, to anger the staff even further, both Kanan and Hera leapt straight into the ball pit the moment they reached it, the sound of cheap, plastic balls clattering together noisily upon impact.

“Ezra?” Hera called out, worry thick in her voice as her bright green eyes swept across the rather large ball pit. Both Kanan and Hera were practically up to their hips in the ball pit, so they could only imagine Ezra buried underneath the mass of greasy, suffocating, colorful death balls.

“Ezra!” Kanan called out, his voice far less controlled than Hera’s.

A muffled cry came from the opposite end of the ball pit where a clump of the plastic balls started shifting. Suddenly, two little hands poked out of the mass of plastic and flailed about for a moment before they clung to the netting that formed the sides of the pit. Pulling himself up out of the sea of color, Ezra gripped the netting in his fists and looked over at Hera and Kanan with round, terrified eyes.

“Mom! Dad!” Ezra cried, his large, blue eyes tearing up as his lower lip began to tremble. “I don’t like it in here. I wanna get out!”

Hera and Kanan both let out heavy sighs of relief. Hera waded over to Ezra, the plastic balls clattering and shifting with her movement. When she reached Ezra, the little boy practically flung himself into her outstretched arms. Lifting his little feet above the surface of plastic, Hera carried Ezra, who had fistfuls of her shirt firmly clenched in his hands and his face buried in her shoulder, back over to Kanan.

Kanan pulled himself out of the ball pit before extending a hand to Hera, so he could pull her up too. Hera rubbed their son’s back comfortingly. She encouraged him to let go of her shirt so she could hand him over to Kanan.

“Mommy has to go find your brother and sister, Ezra,” Hera said gently as she managed to pass the little boy off to Kanan. “I’ll be right back, sweetie,” Hera assured him before she went back to the jungle gym, calling for Zeb and Sabine.

Kanan carried Ezra back over to their table and sat down with the younger boy sitting on his lap, facing him. Kanan ruffled Ezra’s hair and smiled fondly down at his youngest son.

“How about we go get ice cream from that place down the street, and then Dad will make everyone his famous homemade pizza for dinner? Will that make you feel better, kiddo?”

Ezra sniffled and rubbed at his teary eyes, giving Kanan a little nod. His lower lip still stuck out in a small pout, despite his calmer mood.

Kanan hated seeing his little boy like this. He cracked a goofy smile and started tickling Ezra’s stomach, poking at him playfully, drawing little giggles and squeaks from the little boy as Ezra squirmed in Kanan’s lap and tried to push Kanan’s hands away.

Kanan glanced up and saw Hera returning from the jungle gym with Sabine and Zeb in tow, her face set with controlled anger. 

“Uh-oh,” Kanan muttered. He glanced at Sabine and Zeb before asking, “What happened?”

Hera took a sharp, annoyed little breath and Kanan knew that she was really upset. “I asked Zeb if he knew what happened to Ezra, to make him fall into the ball pit, and I asked him why he was by himself. And you know what Zeb told me?” Hera said, her eyes sparkling with annoyance and her voice tight. “He told me that he pushed Ezra into the ball pit and left!”

Kanan looked over at Zeb, their oldest kid, who was suddenly very interested in his black and purple sneakers.

“Zeb,” Kanan prompted, drawing Zeb’s attention away from his feet and to his father’s face. Kanan set Ezra down on the floor. Sabine walked over to stand next to her little brother, almost protectively. Sabine and Ezra were only a year apart and Sabine had taken it upon herself to be Ezra’s guardian.

“Zeb, do you want to say anything to Ezra?” Kanan continued, looking at his oldest expectantly. Zeb was five years older than Ezra and they didn’t always get along. But Kanan knew that Zeb really cared about his younger siblings, even if he didn’t always show it. 

“I’m sorry, Ezra,” Zeb muttered, casting his eyes away from his younger brother. “I’m sorry I pushed you into the ball pit.”

Ezra sniffled again and rubbed at his eyes. “It’s okay, Zeb,” he said quietly. 

Hera and Kanan glanced at each other and shared a smile. Kanan bent down and scooped Ezra up into the air, drawing a surprised squeal from the little boy. He hoisted Ezra up onto his shoulders, Ezra clinging to Kanan’s head once he was settled. 

“Alright, family!” Kanan said, grabbing Sabine’s outstretched hand after handing Hera her bag and ruffling Zeb’s short, scruffy dark hair. “Let’s go get some ice cream and then Daddy has a pizza to make. With _real_ cheese,” he added, pointedly glaring at the discarded food on the table. 

Hera laughed as she pulled the straps of her bag over her shoulder and took Zeb’s hand.

“Lead the way then!” she chuckled, following Kanan out of the amusement center and off towards the ice cream parlor.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is candiedrhododendrons fault because she insisted that I write more toddler!Ezra. She also did the beta.


End file.
